Lee Seung-taek (27), who has played in the Korea Professional Golf (KPGA) Korean Tour since 2015, enlisted in 2020 and served as a rifleman in the Army Infantry Division in Hongcheon, Gangwon-do for 18 months before being discharged in June of last year. I was discharged.
Lee Seung-taek, who gave up golf during his military service, devoted himself to training for three months to regain his forgotten shots after being discharged.
Fortunately, Lee Seung-taek, who quickly regained his shooting sense, began playing in the Asian Professional Golf Tour in December of last year, and returned to the KPGA Korean Tour in April of this year.
He achieved outstanding results, including 6th place at the SK Telecom Open in May, runner-up at the KB Financial Live Championship, tied 6th place at the KPGA Championship, and tied 3rd place at the Honors K and Solarago CC Han Jang-sang Invitational.
The gap from his military service was hardly felt, and in fact, he was evaluated as having improved his performance compared to before his enlistment.
In the first round of the KPGA Korean Tour Biz Play/Electronic News Open (total prize money of 700 million won) held at Cosmos Rings (par 72) in Yeongam-gun, Jeollanam-do on the 14th, Seungtaek Lee made 7 birdies without bogey and hit 7 under par 65.
Seungtaek Lee, who was tied for the lead with Eunsin Park and Yun Jeong, a Korean-American, laid the foundation for his first win in his career.
He passed the Asian Tour Qualifying School in 2017 after being a member of the national team, and is attracting attention by hitting 12 under par 60 strokes in the final round of the 2017 Tee-Up/G-Swing Mega Open, setting the record for the lowest score in 18 holes of the KPGA Korean Tour that no one has broken so far. Although I was a player, I had yet to hold a championship trophy.
He caught more birdies than anyone else with a long shot that easily exceeded 300 yards, but that was because he also had more bogeys.
His large body weighing close to 100 kg and his aggressive playing style earned him the nickname ‘Brown Bear’.
Seungtaek Lee said, “I realized the importance of golf while serving in the military. Before enlisting, I felt a little bored because I played golf every day, but now I am grateful for every stroke.”
Seungtaek Lee, who learned the importance of golf, naturally lost his old rough playing style.
Seungtaek Lee said, “I really wanted to win. Even before I enlisted, I had many opportunities to win. But each time, my greed took precedence. Now, rather than just playing golf forward, I figure out where to target first and then hit the ball there. The distance is a bit longer. “Even if there is a lot left, I send the ball to a good place for the next shot,” he explained.
On this day, Seungtaek Lee also hit a tee shot toward the fairway of the adjacent 10th hole at the 18th hole (par 5).
Seungtaek Lee, who shot 311 yards, said, “I thought that if I hit my tee shot to the fairway of the 18th hole, I might end up in the bunker considering my distance, so I aimed for the fairway of the 10th hole.”스포츠토토
Seungtaek Lee, who finished the first half of the year and played on the Asian Professional Golf Tour for the month of August, chuckled and said, “I saw a lot of people playing like this during the Asian Tour International Series tournament held at the Links Course in England.”
Lee Seung-taek, who made the first step well, said, “There are still three days left, but if we play like today, we will have a chance (to win),” and pledged, “Before, if I had such a good score, I would blindly rush the next day, but I won’t do that this time.”
After completing her military service as a tank driver, Park Eun-shin, who won her first win at the Descent Korea Munsingwear Match Play last year and reached her second win at the Golfzon-Toray Open, recorded an eagle and five birdies to start her first win of the season. I walked.
Jeong Yoon also tied for the lead with an eagle and five birdies.
Seo Yo-seop, who had been having trouble with his tee shots, rose to 4th place, 1 stroke behind, with 7 birdies and 1 bogey.
Defending champion Choi Jin-ho recorded a 4-under par 68, sparking a second consecutive loss.
Ko Gun-taek, who is attempting his fourth win of the season since Choi Sang-ho in 1992, traded four birdies and four bogeys and was pushed back to a tie for 81st place with an even par score of 72.